Apparatus and method for non-invasive real-time subsoil inspection
First Claim
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1. Apparatus for non-invasive subsoil inspection, for verifying a presence of any underground facilities, comprising:
- a mobile support structure moveable in at least one horizontal direction, and which supports a plurality of antennas for transmitting an electromagnetic signal towards the soil and for receiving response echoes, andan electronic processing unit for analyzing the data acquired by said antennas and for reconstructing an image of the subsoil portion scanned by the machine,said antennas comprising;
a first group of antennas including at least one row of antennas with vertical polarization, for detecting any underground facilities arranged transversely to a direction of forward motion of the apparatus,a second group of antennas including at least two rows of antennas with horizontal polarization, for detecting any underground facilities arranged longitudinally with respect to the direction of forward motion of the apparatus.
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Abstract
An apparatus for non-invasive subsoil inspection used for verifying the presence of any underground facilities includes a mobile support structure (2) which can be moved in at least one horizontal direction and which supports antennas (A) adapted to transmit an electromagnetic signal towards the soil and to receive the response echoes. An electronic processing unit is adapted to analyze the data acquired by the antennas and to reconstruct an image of the subsoil portion scanned by the machine.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. Apparatus for non-invasive subsoil inspection, for verifying a presence of any underground facilities, comprising:
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a mobile support structure moveable in at least one horizontal direction, and which supports a plurality of antennas for transmitting an electromagnetic signal towards the soil and for receiving response echoes, and an electronic processing unit for analyzing the data acquired by said antennas and for reconstructing an image of the subsoil portion scanned by the machine, said antennas comprising; a first group of antennas including at least one row of antennas with vertical polarization, for detecting any underground facilities arranged transversely to a direction of forward motion of the apparatus, a second group of antennas including at least two rows of antennas with horizontal polarization, for detecting any underground facilities arranged longitudinally with respect to the direction of forward motion of the apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. Method of non-invasive subsoil inspection for verifying a presence of any underground facilities through an apparatus comprising a mobile support structure moveable in at least one horizontal direction and which supports a plurality of antennas for transmitting an electromagnetic signal towards the soil and to receive return echoes, and an electronic processing unit for analyzing the data acquired by said antennas and for reconstructing an image of the subsoil portion scanned by the machine;
- said antennas being organized into groups including a first group of antennas for detecting transverse underground facilities and a second group of antennas for detecting longitudinal underground facilities;
the method comprising the following steps;a) for each antenna, sending said electromagnetic signal towards the soil, b) detecting the return echoes of said signals at different scanning speeds within a predetermined range, c) for each antenna, automatically determining a speed of propagation for which the return echo is maximized, d) comparing said maximum values of the return echoes among each of the groups of the antennas. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- said antennas being organized into groups including a first group of antennas for detecting transverse underground facilities and a second group of antennas for detecting longitudinal underground facilities;
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15. A method of non-invasive subsoil inspection for verifying a presence of underground facilities through an apparatus comprising a mobile support structure movable in at least one horizontal direction and which supports a plurality of antennas for transmitting an electromagnetic signal towards the soil and to receive return echoes, and an electronic processing unit for analyzing data acquired by said antennas and for reconstructing an image of a subsoil portion scanned by the apparatus;
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the plurality of antennas comprising a group of antennas having at least two rows of antennas, wherein the antennas in each row have horizontal polarization, for detecting underground facilities arranged longitudinally with respect to the direction of forward motion of the apparatus; the method comprising the following steps; a) for each antenna, sending said electromagnetic signal towards the soil; b) detecting the return echoes of said signals at different scanning speeds within a predetermined range; c) for each antenna, automatically determining a speed of propagation for which the return echo is maximized; and d) comparing said maximum values of the return echoes among the antennas, wherein the comparing said maximum values of the return echoes takes place between the antennas of one row and the antennas of a next row.
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Specification